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I thought fighters pulled 5g on the turn to base ha The link to the book I posted above is legit gunship history. It's got the details, we damn near lost two gunships that night. I've known the author since 79, we pretty much started flying together. He did 100s of interviews and had access to official records. Took years to write it. It's a good read. I'll try to do the cliffs. 02 was launched on by manpads and an 8 while engaging a target. Pods and chaff didn't break lock. Pilot performed last second break. Took some shrapnel from the 8. Evading the 8 is when the over g happened. They were tracked by a 6 after that. Headed south at low altitude. On 03, while flying north, we were tracked and locked onto by a 6 behind us. So they let us fly over them before they engaged.driving us north. Pods, chaff and threat breaks broke lock. A few seconds later an 8 was tracking us, we evaded that which drove us into a barrage of AAA. By then we had run out of altitude so the EWO vectored us around threats as best he could. We headed south below 100ft with the throttles pushed all the way up. Our tactics back then were to be completely blacked out and all emitters off so no radar altimeter. The sand dunes looked like clouds, kinda eerie. I had a pair of PVS-5s and the IR was looking forward as best he could, the IR sensor was placed at the forward left wheel well back then. Continuous chatter between Pilot, me and the IR about terrain. Even after that the guys running the war were still sending gunships up into Iraq on SCUD hunts. Funny you mention that. After take off, on the way to the FCF, Bill pointed out that the plane took half the trim to fly straight than it did before. We joked that the plane must have been bent before and PL almost bent it back straight.

Not sure how you can use this analogy with a straight face. Ukraine is not a part of Russia. It was part of the Soviet Union, an empire that imploded three decades ago. It didn’t secede & invite the West in. It’s been a sovereign nation with control of its own destiny since the fall of Soviet rule, just like the Czechs, Poles, Latvians, and all the other former Warsaw Pact nations that are now free of the shackles of a totalitarian communist oppressor. The Russians seemed to be fine with this when the Ukrainians had a corrupt government that tended to align more with Moscow than the west. It was when that government started to reform that Putin started annexing territory (again-from an internationally recognized sovereign nation). There is most definitely a moral argument to be made here: do we abandon a country that, the moment it starts moving in the positive direction we’ve been actively encouraging, is invaded by its neighbor? Or do we show some backbone and support them? Easy decision made even easier by the fact we get to wreck the Russian war machine in the process. To your point, no, this is nothing like Texas seceding with help from our adversaries.

You know what’s a lot more important than the tank…. The people you spent umpteen man hours training to effectively use a tank. If you don’t understand the massive survivability advantage Leo/Challenger/Abrams enjoy over the old Soviet designs and the logistical component of people actually familiar with and able to use the system you are hopeless in understanding it is well worth the logistical impact on needing more fuel or track pads or being heavier and putting more strain on recovery/engineering/bridges/route planning…. Oh no it’s got a new shell…. One that has to be loaded and comes in a single contained piece vs the multi piece shells for the carousel auto loader…. Oh and we can battle carry a fuel load of them instead of going with only the 20-24 in the floor because we are concerned about cooking off a wet stored round in the T64/72 turret…. Do you realize how much of an improvement that would be? About 6 ish months ago the big comment was “why are we sending them HIMARs what could they possibly do with it.” Those same critics are now telling us how they can’t use a “jet fuel powered” tank because of their vast experience working with Armor. And this isn’t about getting this capability to them tomorrow, which guess what we are doing sourcing T72 and 64s from NATO stocks. This is getting the ball rolling on a capability issue that will give the Russians absolute fits in the 6-9 months from now it takes to start fielding it. It’s not the one or the other option you’re calling it. The Russians have absolutely nothing comparable in parity to an Abrams or a LEOA5 or later. They’ve expended the best of their Armor. They are pulling 55s out to put them into service. Putting a Battalion of modern western armor anywhere is a serious problem for them they can’t easily solve, same as a half dozen GMLRs are giving them fits. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Joe Biden was never likeable. He was always a racist, misogynistic, bumbling moron who was just trying to find more young women to sniff. What you said about Trump and what I said about Biden can be true at the same time you know. The difference is the country did very well under one of those two…and it’s not Mr. Sniffs.

I'll add my $0.02 to this discussion, as someone that was confused why I'm an alternate but 2 others from my wing were selected. You can look at my comment history in this thread for more details but short story: I had better scores and numbers, stratted higher from the wing, and had a Wg/CC sign my letter of rec. I'm an alternate but they were selected. The other 2 from the wing had objectively worse applications in every measurable way. Emphasis on objectively. So I emailed the board. I asked about the alternate process and as an after thought at the end of the email, I asked "how I can improve my application for next year's board, specifically anything subjective they noticed". (I didn't complain about the above situation, I knew that wouldn't look good). They replied explaining the board uses an algorithm to help quantify subjective packages. Only 30% of your score comes from PCSM, AFOQT, college GPA, etc. I don't remember what the other 30% and 40% was exactly, but one of them is leadership and experience. They said really good test scores don't mean as much for an otherwise average application. They made sure to tell me my application was above average but this board was very competitive and my chances of being selected next year are good. It helped to read that last bit but still stung haha. This coincided with the feedback I received from my Gp/CC. The other 2 from the wing are the same AFSC but have been doing it longer than me. So by default, by doing the job longer, they have had more leadership opportunities and experience to present to the board. Also, their scores were decent too. I've had a bright start to my career, but I'm "young". Anyways, if I've interpreted all of this feedback correctly, what you've done in your career and how well you communicate it to the board is just as important, if not more important, than every number on the AF215 combined. I definitely know how to improve that for next year. Food for thought. Edit: incase it wasn't clear. The things the board probably are looking closely at is the personal letter, letter of recommendation, the 3 bullets from your rater and 3 bullets from your senior rater. Specifically how robust they are. They can tell if it's a bunch of fluff or something meaningful. All of the test scores, PCSM, etc are likely just checking a box for the board.

These goddamn clowns (hillary, trump, biden, and pence) along with all of their staffers should all be in jail as far as I'm concerned. Because that is exactly what would happen to any of us if we were found sitting on a pile of classified at home. The processes don't need to be revamped. Our political leadership needs to be revamped. The process is actually super easy. Don't take fucking classified to your house. If you can't manage that with your bloated staff of god-knows-how-many brown nosing aides you have no business running a country.

Listen to Dan Crenshaw's latest podcast for a fascinating (and horrifying) look at the war from an American operator who joined the Ukrainians. Reminds me of much earlier in the thread when some of us were simply content to spend a few billion fighting evil. A much better use of my tax dollars than keeping old fat people alive until they're 100, bailing out the banking mafia, funding the university indoctrination apparatus, attacking the basis for advanced civilization (energy production), or funding virus research that fist-fucked the global economy for a few years. It's also lost on some of the isolationists that we don't need some sort of additional justification to "meddle" in this war. Russia invaded a sovereign nation. Whatever reasons we decide to involve ourselves, our "right" to interfere was granted when an innocent ally was attacked and called for help. If you see someone being mugged, and you beat the shit out of the mugger, no one cares why you did it. Maybe you saw evil and felt compelled to act. Maybe you have a hero complex. Maybe you just wanted to feel someone's life end in your hands. Doesn't matter; motive is only important when you're doing the wrong thing. There are all sorts of reasons we might not participate. The budget is one. But I hate hearing people start dancing around the relativist cry of what right do we have to decide what happens there? We have every right.

How many years passed between the Russia attempt to annex anything in Georgia and their bleeding in Afghanistan? Never mind the ridiculousness of comparing Afghanistan and Georgia with the conflict going on in Ukraine or the potential one in other Soviet Satellites like Poland/Czech etc. How many years did it take for the Old Bear to come out of its cave with teeth borne and attempt to seize territory? Because if this conflict in Ukraine resets the clock to even half that before the Russians can restore any sort of actionable conventional combat power we are getting off stupid cheap. We are also setting a very fine reminder to any other global leaders with ambitions of glory that maybe we aren’t going to just roll over and let you have country X, Sea Y, Straights of Wherever the hell…. And yes letting them off the hook in Georgia and Crimea (which some of us were screaming about then) did nothing but embolden them into the conflict you see today. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

This is awesome! I think we need to start a “war stories” thread or something. Gotta be a lot of cool stories like this one.

I'm not entirely following here. Reductionism is useful in theoretical conversation, but it can't be confused for a framework for viewing the real world. There are no relevant hypotheticals, the real world has already created the scenario. Is Russia being evil in their actions? Is Ukraine to blame for the invasion? Who is right and who is wrong in this conflict? The world is not black and white, but the many shades of gray do fall on a spectrum that are either more black or more white. Arguing that Ukraine has done something wrong, and therefore a moral judgment cannot be weighed against Russia, is the geopolitical version of saying well she shouldn't have cheated on him if she didn't want to be beaten to death. It really is amazing to me how many people are using other conflicts as some sort of basis for minimizing the obvious moral dilemmas we face in Ukraine. Past acts do not impact the moral characteristics of present conflicts. Right and wrong are not relative. To argue otherwise is too close to post-modernism, which is thoroughly deviod of intellectual substance. It is also remarkable to me that conservatives are now using the same twisted logic that progressives have used for the past decade or two. Well the United States had slaves, so who are we to judge? It's nonsense. Did the chauvinistic kleptocracy deserve to be invaded or not? A fundamental basis for our nation is that we do not inherit the sins of our fathers. Ultimately, there is no United States of America, there are only the people who make it up and the decisions that they make. I don't give two flying fucks if other people made the wrong decision in the past. My job, my duty as a moral being, is to make the right decision in the scenarios I am faced with. And when I fail, as I have before, I do not get to use that failure as some sort of justification for future inaction. Now, I would not say that the moral nature of international activity binds us to any course, but the Tucker Carlson wing of the Republican party seems hell bent on disputing the moral nature of this particular war, rather than just the appropriate national response, and I find that to be almost laughably obtuse.

We can start with making it illegal.....

The system of life you enjoy is build around the framework that for the last 70+ years a developed country could not annex another developed country by force of arms without global repercussions (See Desert Storm). Failing to get off our collective asses and do something about Russia attempting to upend that system absolutely impacts your ability to “do normal stuff.” Because right now the accepted global norm is at the near bank of the Rubicon in what the accepted global status quo is. Throwing up the isolationist “not our problem,” is crossing that to the other bank which would be an entire new paradigm in the global status quo. One that will very well likely require us to get directly involved in a conflict of arms vs what is now a relatively simple matter of giving a somewhat friend the ability to hobble a definite opponent. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Recommend you not assume…it makes an ass out of u and me! I am very pro immigration, so much so that I recognize my views are outside of the mainstream even for a Dem. I’ve also held that view for my entire adult life, so it’s not some kind of sudden revelation here in the last few years. I am disappointed we didn’t let in many, many more Afghans. We should have been flying them out for years. I am also disappointed we don’t increase many immigration program caps 5-10x, especially high-skilled ones. Finally, I don’t know why the Biden admin is trying to fight diversity visa program normalization post-pandemic. They should stop. I feel like you’re trying to either catch me unaware of something or accuse me of “doing a hypocrisy” before you even ask an actual, genuine question. So if you yourself want more Afghans to immigrate or want to give out all the diversity lottery visas we should have given out over the last several years, we can agree! I was already aware of that stuff but I’m glad to hear you are too.

It was time to put away the homemade wine as I was about to enter crew rest for what would be the most memorable flight of my career. This was the third mission of the war for us. A snippet from this book https://www.amazon.com/Ghostriders-1976-1995-William-Walter-ebook/dp/B09VQWY5RP/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid&sr&fbclid=IwAR1vELr1aoqfQjbqO5BywaXVt7DDWvGiBeBh9ZuJL-V4stML3whaaGOFpAY On the evening of January 21, mission planners began tasking AC-130s identically as they did for fighters as two AC-130s were assigned to 30x30 nautical mile “kill boxes.” On this night, weather was good and both crews were advised there would be a fighter CAP available in their working areas. Ghost 02, commanded by Capt P.L. took off first in Grave Digger and proceeded to their target area in south central Iraq.23 Within their assigned kill box was an Iraqi command and control center, which was expected to be protected with AAA. About an hour later, Ghost 03 commanded by Capt Preaskorn took off in Bad Company, en route to their target area. I was on Ghost 03

A moral judgement against Russia may be possible, but I'm just not really interested in making it. Such judgements are inevitably weaponized, and I'm not inclined to add to the chorus (especially when some of the loudest wailing comes from people I despise). Call it relativism, a reflexive revulsion to groupthink, partisanship -- it doesn't much trouble me. If conservatives are muddying the water the way progressives once did, it's for similar purposes -- to reduce support for a conflict for which they're unenthusiastic. A bit of a chicken-or-the-egg question, to be sure. I can't say that I have no personal stake in the conflict -- I'm aware that I benefit materially from the present international system. I won't even say that cheap sushi and smaller iPhones aren't worth killing over -- it comes with the territory. It's just not something I'm ever going to have any great enthusiasm for. I wouldn't say that right and wrong are relative, per se. I would say that moral universals are fewer and different than most would think, and that most pieties that are held up are self-serving. Viewing morality in a vacuum isn't apt and tends to bias power. Conservatives are sounding more like progressives did in the past because they've substantially switched places -- the former are the outsiders now. In fact it's been that way for quite a long time, but they were slow to realize it. The media has consistently framed Russia and Putin as foreign incarnations of their domestic political foes -- many conservatives are merely reacting in kind to that narrative. The unanimity of opinion on this board is interesting, though. Opinion at my unit is considerably more divided, as far as I can gather. It's not Reddit-level, but it's notably more homogenous.

I bet every time he speaks on live TV, his Chief of Staff/Staffers hold their breath with their fingers crossed.

You can just make a vault in your closet. That's where I keep all of the SKL's I kept forgetting to give back after loading the codes. The classified documents I kept are hanging on display near my shadow box. I sold a few to one of my Chinese friends because he pays good money for them.

I was really impressed with the VA process and now VA care post retirement. I did it with a VSO which basically involved him filling out the paperwork I would have done on my own and wasn't very impressed with him. I claimed a bunch of things that I had in my records for visits and actual treatment throughout my career. For my back pain, it was very hit and miss and for the exam, I explained to the doc that my back wasn't actually hurting today and I have full mobility. He explained to go (mobility) until it WOULD hurt on a bad day. Ended up with a 80% rating and I did everything on my own. Have visited the VA mutlitple times now for various reasons and the care was leaps and bounds above antyhing I expereienced in the military. For one of the issues, a quick phone call trying to scheudle an appt and was told due to my symptoms to head to the ER right away. Had visions of hell going to a VA ER and how long it would take but from parking to the triage bed was about 5 mintues and then was moved back to a ER room and had care right away. All told, I was in and out in under 3 hours with a treatment plan and meds in hand. An MRI was ordered on the off chance it wasn't what they thought it was. It would have taken many many trips to the mil doctors in order to get an MRI especially with what my symptoms were. Very impressed.

You are absolutely "gaming the system" if you're claiming things you don't have just because the VA can't prove otherwise. That's what I was talking about. "Dude, you have ringing in your ears right?, right?". No. "Well they can't prove otherwise, get what you've earned brother".....and so on and so on. "Just claim ED, they can't prove otherwise". 100% go claim what is broken with you or what you might possibly even think is an issue and don't hold back. Let the VA sort it out. But the great majority think it's a game to get as much as you can and blatantly lying about it. Those same fucktards will be the first to moan about welfare and people not earning their paychecks. Rant over.

A lawyer is not required, however trying to do it yourself is not recommended either. If you do it yourself, good luck with that. If this poster used a VSO then he needs to find another more qualified one. It’s complicated (by design), but well worth the effort to learn the puzzle pieces and “the math”….and don’t assume you understand “the math” ex: hysterectomy 50% + sleep apnea 50% does NOT = VA 100% It’s actually 75% unless there are other claims. “The Math” - https://www.va.gov/VA-combined-ratings-table-2019.pdf As for the original post (di1630), I would suggest you left a lot on the table. For most of you (I assume AD) a 50% rating is min target as it then becomes a $1150ish/mo tax free IN ADDITION to ret check. Anything less than 50% and it’s simply eliminates the tax on that amount of your retirement check. NOTE: 50% is not that terribly difficult to rate when you take into account things like sniffles, allergies, knee issues, tinnitus, hearing loss, ((plantar fasciitis <—— foot stomp 50% alone)) to name just a few. Plenty more easily puts said poster well above 50%. Veterans Administration report to Congress, the ten most commonly awarded medical conditions that are getting approved for benefits are as follows: Tinnitus Limitation of flexion (knee) Hearing loss Lumbosacral or cervical strain (back and neck strains) Limitation of arm motion General scars Limitation of ankle motion PTSD Migraines Paralysis of the sciatic nerve Finally, it’s not “a game”, it’s a benefit available for a reason. When you swore in some 20+ years ago, the govt agreed to return you to after your service in the condition you were in when you entered service. Here’s where I get on my soapbox - are you aware that ED (often associated w most your claims and a no brainer for someone w back issues) is a Special K award of $120ish/mo on top of your VA rating. Oh, and for you pilots, also free viagra for life. jus sayin~ “Game the system”? No. Understand the benefits you’re due and learn the rules, HELL YES! Finally, the time to start preparing yourself (increase your medical visits) for those benefits is 1-2 yrs from retirement, not at your govt reqd TAMP session.

Looks like it's all thumbs up there at the highest levels when it comes to handling classified documents... Classified Documents Found at Mike Pence's Indiana Home

Don't know about NSPlayer, but I'm also very pro-immigration. But I don't think that means we just bus people in and dump them in a random city. We have visa processes for work visas and student visas. My step 1 would be to keep and expedite those processes while removing the caps. Anyone who wants to work or study in the US can, but you don't get a visa until you show you've got a job or you've been accepted by a university. Anyone who graduates from an American college, no matter what country they're from, no longer has to leave and re-apply for a work visa. Upon graduation, you get 1 year to find and keep a job. If you have a job a year after graduation, it's an automatic renewal of your visa. Keep a job in the US for three years or more, we offer you citizenship (as long as you pass the other requirements). I'd scrap the whole H1-B program. You wanna work, someone wants to hire you, come on in. No reason to limit it just to "specific technical knowledge". The part that would be real unpopular with Dems is that I would invest HUGE amounts of money into Customs and Border Patrol so that we can expedite these visas. There's no reason in a country with as much wealth as we have, with so many employers begging for workers, that people should be waiting over a year to immigrate legally. Make it quick, fast, and cheap, pretty soon you simplify your problems - the only people coming in illegally are the ones looking to do something illegal. Getting a visa should be much closer to getting a driver's license or a passport than the years-long process we currently have.

Adapt is a word...right now the farmers are lashing out at everyone when they should look in the mirror. Some of the farmers tried to point the finger at Cannon AFB and their water usage given the Ogallala Aquifer is projected to be depleted in 10 years. Curry County New Mexico has a population of 48,000. Cannon has a bit over 12,000 Active Duty, GS/NAF employees plus dependents. The base itself uses less than a quarter of the red sliver...who is causing the issue? You are 100% correct, things are going to change, they must. In the graph below the red is public water for utilities.

When I went through WIC every WUG had a SCIF in their Nellis Inn room. It was cleverly disguised as a small wooden cabinet with a lock.

Dude, I can tell over the internet that you are the asshat that gets routinely slapped in the squadron bar, regardless of how right or wrong you are.

That there is table built by a loadmaster so the tactics officer has a place to work at his computer...which then becomes an icon for the squadron. In part because it's awesome, in part because it's resting on the one pelican case that actually holds secrets...which each tactics chief has realized, to his own peril, and then ignored, until that fact is lost to the annuls of afghan lore. But seriously, don't forget to sign this certificate that you flew this flag. It's the 5th time, and it needs to be signed...

I’ve just been seeing this ridiculous “the M1 needs jet fuel!” Bullshit for so long it’s maddening so no if you’ve got the general gist that this tank absolutely will run on diesel (because that’s what JP8 is formulated to basically be) no man you’re miles ahead of a whole lot of idiots out there right now. I’m just truly amused at people they think that’s this unbelievably difficult problem to solve in a war where long range cruise missiles are routinely hitting hospitals and schools causing mascal events. Getting the right formula of gas in trucks to tanks that can be used is not nearly the long pole in the tent right now. Christ we can source them fuel trucks too. Oh wait… somebody will be along to freak out about how that’s gonna be an impossible logistical problem. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hold up, are we arguing? I thought we were on the same page, or at least in the same book. I'm drunk so not sure. Should we discuss JetA? I was around when we went from JP4 to JP8, it caused a few problems in the Herk world. It was because JP8 was cheaper, not better. I need a password that I can't remember when I'm drunk.

KSPS 23-02 F-35 x3 F-22 F-15C (ANG) A-10 B-2 F-16 x5 (AD) F-16 (ANG) T-38A T-38C B-52 x2 KSPS 23-03 F-35 F-22 F-15E A-10 B-2 F-16 x5 B-52 x2 T-6A Eurofighter x3 Tornado x2

Absolutely Insane. And now we have 2 dem and 2 GOP fuck ups so it's basically a classified cornhole wash where no one gains or loses any points. My bet is no one gets prosecuted at all. Sad when principles are so far gone that mishandling classified only matters to politicians in so far as you can use it to bludgeon your opponents.

The absolute most aggravating part of this is there staffs are really the ones that F this up and face no consequence. Nobody honestly thinks Trump or Biden etc went and got boxes and packed their office do they? No of course not that’s the staff flunky job. So why the hell after these things happen do we not crucify them and revoke clearances. My regimental S2 pulled up some of Hillary’s staff after the whole thing and they all still showed up in JPAS. Like holy hell we will crucify a good Soldier for plugging the printer in the wrong color cable… but hey you actively ignored and moved stuff either through neglect or deliberate effort… oh no big deal. Please by all means keep your lively hood. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Got some fuel off some pretty sketchy looking trucks over in the Pacific. That was when we did a fuel systems check prior to take off instead of finding out later.

These aren’t showing up overnight. It will be many months at a minimum. This is more of another sign to Russia that the future isn’t getting easier for you. Gen heartling has a great twitter thread about the stuff you talk about.

I tend to sympathize with your realist take on things, but calling a chauvinistic kleptocracy and vector of hostile (to Russia) foreign influence "innocent" is quite a reach. There's certainly a strategic and economic case for supporting Ukraine, but the moral one, I find unimpressive. The U.S. is happy to support ethnic separatism when it suits it (Kosovo) -- presently, its Ukrainian client is violating the tenants of self-determination by forcing the Russophone southeast back under its writ. And needless to say, America has stepped on far more than its share of weak states. You can bet that if (say) Texas were to secede and invite Chinese and Russian troops onto its soil, the reaction of Washington would be apocalyptic. I find the moral outrage to be empty and self-serving, frankly.

Who told you this bullshit…? JP8 is low sulfur diesel. We run our gators, helicopters, generators, and tanks off the same fuel. I’ve literally watched fuelers use our FARP to also service the generators and Humvees from the same truck that has the single point running to the aircraft. It’s literally a fundamental requirement of our entire logistical model for ground forces in NATO. It’s been that way before my dad was in the Air Force. You can also run a number of non specific fuels similar to our cocktail in the M1. There are power pack inspections and different maintenance checks that have to be done, but it was literally built to fight a ground war in Europe. One where logistics would be limited and the primary Armor would need to be able to scavenge as well as use what was planned. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

It’s a lot of everything. The person that got a UPT slot with a 34 PCSM was DG from commissioning source, DG at tech school and rated #1 Lt at the wing. So scores aren’t end all be all

is wikipedia wrong?

M1 Abrams and Leopard tanks to UKR, let's fucking go. Finally. EABOD Vlad, feel free to give up and slink home to your shitty, corrupt petrostate and fall out of a window already.

lol. ok, you've had some decent posts. this is not one of them.

I mean, obviously everything matters to some degree, but I meant that reviewing the stats from the board does not tell the whole story, when some of the most competitive things went to those with scores that were not as high as others selected for different things. My scores were high like I posted, but that's not enough on its own to get in

This isn’t that hard, just put it in a WUG dorm microwave and you’re fine. Do we have to hold their hand on everything!

Slightly less than half of the selected members had PPLs...I 1000% agree that an outbrief would be amazing. Sent from my SM-G986U using Tapatalk

Don't forget the example it sets for China. While I'm skeptical the current batch of global leaders are capable of such forward-thinking policy, the Ukraine-Russia-West dynamic is very similar to (while smaller than) the Taiwan-China-West dynamic. I have no doubt China is paying close attention.

Wish they'd provide a board outbrief or something similar. It'd be immensely beneficial to those wishing to reapply and in mentoring others that want to apply for UFT if they provided a little insight into what influenced selections each year. Especially what they saw as the key differentiators between selects without PPLs/with scores on the lower end of spectrum from non-selects.

It certainly helps. Remember, we hire our pilots for the long haul, no regular PCS’ing, so we prioritize getting the right fit. Typically applications are lower at heavy units, but they are looking for the right guy as well, as they obviously spend much more time on the road together. I can’t stress it enough…Get to know the Squadron you’re hoping to get hired with.

I am in the guard now, yes. I’m really not trying to dissuade anyone from taking their shot in the ANG. I just want folks to be aware of what’s actually going on. Most AD people (earlier self included) think the ANG is some sort of weekend flying club and certainly second rate. Of course it took about 10 mins of talking with my new ANG buds at UPT for me to learn I made a huge mistake. I got picked up because I was deployed with my ANG unit, as well as exercises. Get to know the bros I strongly suggest any interested in how to get a ANG UPT slot wander over to the ANG/Res section and you’ll find a lot of answers and advice.